Letter to the Editor

The following is a copy of a letter sent to Hon. Chrystia Freeland, Minister of Transport.

Dear Minister Freeland:

First, I want to express my sincere gratitude for your leadership in bringing significant change to the governance of the Liberal Party and Canada. We met when you visited Castlegar regarding the Columbia River Treaty, and I have always been deeply impressed by your intelligence, dedication, and action-oriented approach. As an Alberta woman making a national impact, you have been an inspiration—including to my two-time candidacy for the Liberal Party in Kootenay-Columbia.

That said, I am writing to bring urgent attention to a devastating issue in my region. The five-month-long Kootenay Lake Ferry strike has crippled our communities, businesses, and essential transportation infrastructure.

For months, ferry workers have been in a stalemate with Western Pacific Marine, and the impact on residents has been catastrophic. Citizens are isolated, businesses are failing, and people are suffering. The Kootenay Lake Ferry is not just a convenience—it is a critical transportation link, and often the only available route across British Columbia when the Kootenay Pass (Hwy 3) and Rogers Pass (Hwy 1) are closed due to avalanche control. This is not a localized inconvenience; it is a major transportation failure affecting the entire province.

We have appealed to the union, the BC government, our MP, and countless officials—all to no avail. The inaction and neglect from those in power are unacceptable. Anywhere else in Canada, the blockade of a major highway would not be tolerated. Yet here, our pleas continue to be ignored.

Meanwhile, the striking workers face no urgency to return, as they are well compensated during the dispute, and WPM appears to be saving money by prolonging the strike. The government of British Columbia has failed to act, drowning out our crisis with the competing interests of larger urban centres.

We need federal intervention. Now.

• We need Highway 3A fully open.
• We need the ferry declared an essential service.
• We need binding arbitration imposed immediately.

The human toll of this inaction is staggering. Imagine being a 70-year-old man, just out of major surgery in Kelowna, forced to sit in a truck for 14 hours, unable to return home to Cranbrook because there is no functioning transportation route.

Imagine owning a business that employs 20 people but being unable to open because your customers cannot get to you.

Imagine losing your job because you physically cannot commute to work.

This is the daily reality for people on both sides of Kootenay Lake. Every day this continues, more livelihoods are destroyed, and more people suffer needlessly.

I urge you to recognize this as the human rights crisis that it is. We need decisive action, and we need it now.

Thank you for your time and for your unwavering service to Canadians. I look forward to your response and to meaningful action on this issue.

Robin Goldsbury,

Past EDA Chair Kootenay Columbia

Liberal Candidate 2019, 2021,

Balfour

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